The Bird and the Worm, Or so he Thought
by Uraz
Summary: Set after Fever,were Mick fed off Beth & this time promises to stay away from Beth,for her own good,&enroles the help of good & hot friend Josef to keep an eye out for her. soon sparks fly - is a Josef/Beth fic. Better than it sounds!
1. Chapter 1

Moonlight…

Set after fever, where Mick fed off of Beth, and promised himself he would stay away from her, for her own safety.

Gonna turn into a Beth Josef pairing coz i think they r so cute 2gether and we need more fics wif this pairing on fan fiction:) Plz enjoy and the next chap, Beth and Josef will meet and, well, u'll just have to stay tuned to find out wot happens then :P

And soz 4 the lame title, I had a total blank and really just wanted 2get this up onto fanfic and totally 4got to think of a proper title so I used a bit of inspiration from a song I like, The Bird and the Worm, by The Used, and played on that a bit!

Chapter 1:

"Coming." Josef yelled as he stood from his office chair heading to the door, where someone was knocking impatiently.

He rubbed his eyes, glad for the distraction from his work. It was nearly 3am, and he knew he should be in his freezer by now.

He opened his door, only to see a brooding Mick stride through, without so much as a hello and take a seat on his couch.

"Sure, come on in." Josef said sarcastically as he closed the door and took a seat opposite Mick on a comfortable chair, folding one leg over his other, already seeing by Mick's oh-so-cheerful mood, this was going to be another talk about Beth. Lord knows this woman had been the topic of a few other conversations between himself and Mick.

"So, what's it this time?" Josef asked, loosening his tie and leaning back into his seat, thinking if this _was _about Beth again, he maybe did prefer to be doing his work than listen to Mick sulk about Beth and this whole 'forbidden love' thing he had going on. I mean, what was so special about this Beth woman anyway? Josef hadn't met her personally yet but had seen her on television a few times. I mean, yeah she was pretty but nothing special in his eyes.

"It's… Beth." Mick said.

"Surprise surprise. What happened?" Josef asked, considering getting a drink, suspecting this conversation could go on for a while.

"I did something I shouldn't have done." Mick said, regret and torment plain etched on his face.

"What? What did you do?" Josef asked, now more serious. What had Mick done? Don't tell me he tried to turn her. He knew all to well the consequences of that situation. No, no, Mick isnt that careless, he probably just tried to kiss her or something. God knows he should try to face the feelings he'd been hiding from himself for some time now, that he liked Beth, and more than just a friend.

"I, I fed off her." Mick said, running a hand through his dark hair.

"Ahh, way to go you sly dog, about time!" Josef said in a playful tone, "How was she?"

Mick shot him a severe look, "Josef, don't."

"Finally Mr. High and Mighty aint so high and mighty no more. She was good, wasn't she?" Josef asked happily.

"Josef, stop. It's not what you think. I, I was dying. I'd been out in the desert all day, and dehydrated, big time. She, she wanted to do it. Only God knows why." Mick said, "She's fine though, I mean, physically, I tried not to take too much."

Mick, feeding off a human? Although he did find the thought entertaining, it definitely was new, although just one glance at him showed that would be his last. The torment etched on his face clear to see, showed he wouldn't let himself ever feed off of a human again. Josef himself knew he could never have that level of self control, but that didn't really bother him. He never killed humans, just used them long enough to satisfy his hunger and let them go, where's the harm in that?

He let out a long breath, and decided to get that drink after all.

"So have you seen her since? She mad at you or are you two still best buds?" Josef asked from the kitchen.

"No, I haven't seen her, and I'm not going to. It's not safe. She's been in danger too many times and it's because of me, and it has to stop. I'm gonna keep away from her." Mick said, trying to sound resolute.

"Sure." Josef said as he took a sip from his glass, and held it out offering Mick some. Mick shot him a '_what do you think?' _look and Josef shrugged, putting his glass down on the table between them.

"This is where you come in." Mick said, looking Josef firmly in the eye.

"Huh, me? Hang on a sec, what do you want from me?" Josef asked surprised.

"I'm gonna need you to keep an eye on her, make sure she's safe, especially if she runs into any kind of _our _trouble." Mick said. Mick stared at him with a determined gaze, knowing he wasn't going to leave until Josef promised him he would keep an eye on Beth.

In the end, Josef sighed and resigned to his fate, he knew Mick could be stubborn, and he also knew there was no point in arguing.

"Fine. You win. I'll keep an eye out for her, but you need to know I don't like this, and you owe me. Big time." Josef said annoyed as he finished off the rest of his drink.

"Thank you." Mick said, as he stood to leave, Josef right behind him as they headed to the front door.

"Oh, one more thing." Mick said, stopping at the door and turning to face Josef.

"What now?" Josef asked exasperated.

"Promise me, you won't touch her." Mick said.

Josef raised one eyebrow in interest, as if considering the fun idea, and Mick shot him a stern angry look.

"Look, she's not one of your play mates you bring in here and feed off, your not going to touch, understood?" Mick asked seriously.

"I'm offended." Josef said acting insulted.

"Josef." Mick said as a warning.

"Yeah yeah, I got it. No biting. Check." Josef said in a bored tone, opening the door for Mick, "But you better get over this Avoiding-Beth-for-her-own-good deal and soon coz I aint playing no ones bodyguard for long, I do have a job you know."

"Thanks Josef." Mick said, ignoring Josef's last statement, and left.

---


	2. Chapter 2

hey all, here is an extra long chapter, only coz that was the only good place to cut it! lol, enjoy and plz give me your feed back, even constructive critisism, no flames! And tell me if the characters are acting like they wud be! Thanks and enjoy, i'll try to update soon:)

Chapter 2:

"At this time, the police aren't releasing any details, but earlier tonight a young woman was murdered at this down town location, right next to the club, "Eclipse." We'll post further details as soon as we get them, all we know at this current moment was that this woman was in her early 20's and was seen in Eclipse earlier tonight. This is Beth Turner, for Buzz Wire."

"Okay and cut." Steve, the camera man said as he turning off the camera and lowered it, taking a good look around the area. Currently he stood in front of Beth just behind the police tape put up blocking off the entrance of the alley, where the alleged murder took place.

"God I really want to get in there." Beth said looking over to where the group of paramedics stood, inspecting the body. It was quite a crowd, paramedics, ambulance, police, reporters, on-lookers, and her contact Lieutenant Carl Davis didn't seem to be there. Usually she would slip under the tape and try to get as close to the body as possible, maybe even take a photo, before being noticed and pulled back behind the tape, but this time they had more security next to the tape, one police officer on either side of the tape stood watching the crowd.

She saw the paramedics leave to go get a gurney to take the body away on, and took her chance. She gave Steve a slight head motion and looked over to the other officer meaningfully, and after a few seconds Steve nodded his head and said, "Gotcha." before hitching his camera back up onto his shoulder and heading over to the other side of the alley.

Beth got out her phone, ready to take a picture as she watched Steve make a quick diversion.

"Hey, move over let me get a good shot!" He said loudly slipping onder the tape and trying to make his way over to the body.

"Hey!" The police officers started yelling and the one standing in front of Beth rushed over to help the other officer get Steve back behind the tape.

Beth took her chance; as soon as the officer infront of her left, she slipped under the tape, staying close to the wall and quickly went to get a photo of the body.

As she approached the body, she saw a young attractive blonde lying next to a dumpster with dark red blood smeared on her neck, where she suspected two small holes resided also.

She took a photo and stepped closer to the body, and confirmed her suspicion; a vampire had done this.

"Oh not again." She muttered under her breath, as she looked at the vacant expression in the young girls eyes.

"Are you supposed to be here?" A calm male voice said behind her.

She turned in surprise, lowering her phone just incase he was a cop and noticed her taking photos of the body. To her surprise, the voice was from a very attractive man, not dressed like a cop at all, but much like a business man in a black suit and light pink top underneath.

He stood there smirking at her, as if he found something ammusing, and for some unknown reason to her she let him take her arm in his hand and lead her back behing the tape.

"Now correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think those pictures you took were allowed." The man said, still looking at het with that ammused expression.

_God, say something Beth._ Beth, at a complete loss for words, said "Just, trying to get a story."

_Yeah, great idea. You just confessed to taking illegal pictures of a body at a murder scene. _Beth silently cursed herself, but was relieved to see the guy didn't look angry or about to arrest her, but still rather amused for some unknown reason, and seemed to be looking at her with a strange, intense look in his eyes.

"I-I'm sorry, who are you?" Beth finally asked, regaining her composure and more confidence.

"I'm sorry my name is Josef. Josef Konstantin." The man said, as he extended his hand to shake hers. She took it, hesitating at first for some reason. This man seemed to make her nervous for some reason, although she wasn't sure why, but his name did seem to ring some bells.

"That sounds familiar do I know you?" Beth asked, still shaking his hand and looking into his hazel brown eyes, something about him made her not want to look away.

"No, but Mick may have mentioned me." Josef said, still holding her hand.

"Mick? You know Mick?" Beth asked surprised.

Josef gave a slight nod as he smiled at her, waiting for the truth to dawn on her.

"Wait, so you're a..." Beth asked as she realised Mick _had _mentioned him before briefly, never really going into detail. The look he seemed to be giving her, that intense gaze, she had remembered it was similar to the way Mick looked at her, but his also seemed to have a hint of amusment and wildness to it. That tipped her off, and she realised that he too must be a vampire. She pulled her hand away quickly, and lowered her eyes, breaking their eye contact for the first time, embarassed at how she had acted, how she had pulled her hand away from his instantly. _Now he knows I'm scared of him, great. Excellent first impression to make to a vampire. Oh God, why does he keep looking at me like that? _

"Yes, I am." Josef said, putting his hand into his pocket, enjoying the fact that as soon as Beth realised what he was, her heart rate nearly doubled.

"So, what are you doing here? Wheres Mick?" Beth asked, forcing herself to sound calm and in control. Why was this guy, or _vampire,_ here, and what did he want with her?

"Mick, is… unavailable at the moment, and will be for some time. In the meantime he wanted me to help you out if there are any cases that would involve, well people like me." Josef, said, aware there were many people around him. He didn't know why he saved her from the truth though, why hadn't he told her Mick didn't want to see her? Was he trying to spare her feelings? God that was a sickening thought, since when did he care about her feelings, or anyones feeling? He barely even knew her, why would he care about her? I mean yeah she was attractive, and the fear she was giving out and her heart rate pumping incredibly fast was making him jelous of Mick, and Josef definetly wouldn't mind being alone with her for a few minutes in a room, but that still didn't explain why he hadn't told her the truth.

"So, you're going to help me?" Beth asked, her eyes huge and her heart rate picking up again. Yes this guy was gorgeous but he was also a _vampire_, and she didn't think he was as… civilised and controlled like Mick was. He looked more wild and reckless, and by the way he was looking at her, she wasn't sure she wanted to be alone with him for a long period of time. Although there was something about him that, she was ashamed to say it but was exciting and drew her to him, making her almost wish she _were _alone with him at that moment.

"Well this is one of those cases so yes, for the time being." Josef said, then leaned over to get another look at the body. "From what I can tell, a vampire did this. They met in the club and he brought her out here and killed her."

"Was this his first?" Beth asked.

"I don't know. In the mean time, I'll try and find out who this guy is and deal with him." Josef said.

"Wait, what should _I _do?" Beth asked confused, getting a little annoyed. Yeah this guy was a little intimidating and, well, a vampire but Mick never treated her like this on a case and she'll be damned if she was gonna let this guy kick her out of her own story.

"Just sit tight, I'll contact you." Josef said, turning to leave.

"No, wait a sec." Beth said, reaching out instinctively to grab his arm. He stopped, and turned to look at her with that ammused expression in his eyes with one eye brow arched.

"Uh," Beth stuttered for a sec, removing her hand, "Look, I'm not going to let you kick me out of my own story, I want to help. This isn't the first vampire case I've been on."

Josef sighed, remembering Mick mention something about her being stubborn. Women had definetly changed since his time, why wouldn't she just listen to him? To be honest he didn't want to do this, he had more important things to be doing, like his work, and spending his time babysitting Beth wasn't exactly his ideal way to be spending his time. He just wanted to get this case over with and hope by the time he was finished, Mick had gotten over his problems.

"Look, it could get dangerous." Josef said, looking at her seriously.

"I know. So that's why I think I should check if this is his first killing by looking up similar murders in the last few weeks, and if its not there might be a pattern we can track, hopefully to his next potential victim. In the mean time you could talk to the girls friends who were at the club, maybe they saw the killer." Beth said, pleased to see the look of defeat and irritation in Josef's eyes; she was back in control.

_Why does she have to be so stubborn?_ "Fine, but don't go off by your self trying to find him." Josef said, sighing in frustration. He didn't feel like arguing, especially when he could see there was no point, Beth wasn't going to be bossed around.

"Why? Worried about me?" Beth asked with a teasing smile.

_No, Mick would kill me if anything happened to you. _

"Oh, my contact's here." Beth said looking over to see Lieutenant Davis talking to a police officer. "I'm gonna go get started on checking for other similar murders, you should get started on talking to the victims friends, ok?"

He shot her an annoyed, which she rewarded with a large smile before going over to see Davis.

What had just happened? He had been in control of the conversation at the beginning, made her heart rate double and even got her afraid of him, so how had she ended up giving _him _orders on how to conduct this investigation? He did not see what Mick saw in her, yes she was attractive but completely infuriating and stubborn, and Josef was not used to dealing with women who weren't afraid to stand up to him, maybe some vampires but definetly not humans.

It was new to him, but he didn't like it.

---


	3. Chapter 3

hey all! 1st of all, i wanna say the biggest thanks to every 1 hu's reading this, and an even bigger thanks to every 1 hu's reviewed! u all rock, im sooo happy all the feed back i've gotten has been real positive so thanks so much!

and 2ndly, im going on vacation for just over a week so i wont get to update this 4 about a week and a half, soz every 1 but i'll try to as soon as i get back :)

just as a note, i've been constructing this idea for a few weeks now, and i recently just watched the ep. B.C. and kinda am dissapointed that that ep. mirrors my plans 4 this fic a little, (minus the drug thing and Lola) so just so u no im not trying to copy that ep here or that i stole that idea, coz i've been thinking about this and posting it even b4 i saw that ep, which by the way was a great episode:)

oh, and in responce to snarkNsass, yes it prob will be a mystery/romance mixing in some adventure and humour :)

Thanks every one and enjoy this chap :)

Chapter 3:

"So you saw a man talking with your friend earlier?" Josef asked, leaning forward with interest.

This was the third friend of Rachel's he'd talked to and the first to have a possible lead on who the killer was.

_About time. _Joesf thought, it's not like he didn't have anything else to do, he had a job which he was falling behind in, all because of Beth. Well, if he were honest with himself, if they were going to catch this vampire, asking the victims friends if they'd seen him was were to start, but what he didn't get was why was this _his_ problem? Mick was the private investigator, why did he have to get Josef involved? Josef wasn't much for caring about other peoples problems.

"Well, yeah." The brunette girl Jamie said sniffling, grabbing a napkin from the table where they sat in a small, empty café.

"And?" Josef asked impatiently. Patience was not his strong point, and that had been tested several times since he'd taken on this little assignment.

"He was tall, had kinda long dark hair. He looked, a little Latin, had tan skin, I think. I didn't get a good look at him." Jamie said, "She talked to a few guys that night though, this guy might not be the guy your looking for."

"That's okay. Do you remember anything else, did you get a name or number or anything else?" Josef asked.

"No. Sorry." Jamie answered.

"Ok, thanks fo your time." Josef said, who then stood and let out a sigh. He still hadn't gotten any real information on the vampire, he hoped Beth was having more luck. Although he still had two more girls to see, and he hoped they would shed more light on this vamp.

"Wait!" Jamie called out just before he reached the exit door.

"Yes?" Josef asked turning to see Jamie standing, concentrating on something only she could see.

"I, I remember something. Before Rachel left, she came up to me and said she was leaving with that guy, the Italian looking one. She told me his name, God what was it?" Jamie said, looking frustrated as she racked her brain for the mans name.

"Yes?" Josef asked more eagerly, as he walked back over to the girl; finally it looked like he may have a lead.

"S-S-Ste… Steven? No. It starts with an S." The girl said, concentrating.

"Shane, Sean, Sam, Simon? No. Steven, Stephan, Stephan! That's it!" Jamie said exitedly, "She said she was leaving with Stephan and she would call me tomorrow."

"Great, that's great. Anything else?" Josef asked, racking his brain for any vampires he knew called Stephan.

"No, that's all. Sorry." Jamie said.

"That's okay, thanks for your help." Joesf said, putting on his dark sun glasses and heading for his car quickly, keeping to the shade. He did have two more girls to interview which were Rachels friends and there at the club that night, and he _was_ going to leave it till later once the sun had set but now that he had narrowed down the search and had a possible suspect, he may as well check it out now.

As he headed to his car, he cringed as the noon sun hit his skin harshly, making him feel hot, uncomfortable and sun burnt. Once in his jaguar he checked both girls addresses and headed for the closer one first. _This case better he solved quickly,_ he thought,_ or else I'm going to find my self working overtime for the next week._

---

"Are you sure?" Beth asked Jake.

"Yeah yeah I'm positive. Over the last month, there have been three other deaths at nightclubs, all pretty close to the latest one at Eclipse." Jake replied, handing all the information he gathered in his file over to Beth.

"Okay, that's great. Thanks a lot Jake." Beth said, taking the file indiscreetly, keeping an eye out incase any other police officers were watching them. They stood in the busy police office, Jake looking nervous and glancing around for his superior.

"That's all I could find out." Jake said.

"Okay, well thanks for this, here's what we agreed on." Beth said, handing him an envelope as she tucked the file into her bag, ready to get back to her car and look through it all.

"Ok, cya Beth." Jake said.

"Bye Jake." Beth said, turning to head back to her car, only to see Carl Davis walking over to her with an angry expression.

"Lieutenant Davis." Beth greeted formerly, as she aimed to side step him and head to her car. Not that easy.

"Beth, what do you think your doing here?" Davis said angrily, grabbing her arm as she tried to walk aroud him.

"Nothing." Beth said innocently, with wide confused eyes.

"Are you hasling my boys for information now?" Davis asked angrily.

"Information on what?" Beth asked innocently.

"Don't even try to act your way out of this one, I heard you were at the crime scene at Eclipse yesterday." Davis said, trying to keep his voice down. "Now that is a murder investigation, so _stay out of it._ Understood?"

"Absolutely." Beth said.

"Good. And I don't want to see you here again hasling other cops for information, okay?" Davis asked.

"You got it." Beth answered with a quick nod.

Davis released her arm and Beth made her way to her car, waiting until she was inside to take out the file Jake had put together for her. As she flipped through the file, she noted that all deathes had taken place at night clubs, and all located about a block away from each other.

Just as she took out a map to look up these clubs and see if she spotted any pattern between their locations, her phone began to ring.

She took it out of her bag, puzzled whens he saw a number she didn't recognize calling her.

"Hello?" Beth answered, already having a sneaking suspicion of who it might be.

"Beth, it's Josef." Josef said.

"Oh, hi. I think I got a lead on roughly where the next murder might take place." Beth said, slipping into her all-business controlled tone.

"That's good. I think I have a lead too, we should meet up. Say my place, 8 o'clock?" Josef said.

"Uh, okay." Beth answered a little reluctantly. She still didn't feel exactly comfortable around Josef, she barely knew him, but she didn't think he would harm her. Why did he want to meet at his place though? Why not , lets say, a crowded café where she didn't have to be alone with him.

_God, stop being so paranoid Beth. He's Micks friend, you can trust him… I hope. _

A few mintues later, once Josef had given her his address, they hung up, and Beth headed back to her office to look over her information and follow up on a lead she had.

---


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guyz soz dis a bit late but i made it extra long 2make up :P Enjoy and dont 4get to review :P :)

Chapter 4:

As Beth walked up the pathway to Josef's suprisingly beautiful and expensive looking house, she made a promise to herself; that she would keep her calm and not let Josef intimidate her, and most importantly keep her heart beat normal, especially after she noticed that Josef could sense when she was uneasy or nervous like in their last meeting.

_Wow, this is a nice place. Josef must be a millionare or something. _

_Or else he killed a millionare! Oh God please don't think that. As soon as you walk through the door he'll know your scared and you do _not _want to give him that power. Not that he needs the extra leverage, he's a vampire for God sakes! Oh God, why does he make me so nervous? It can't be that he's a vampire because Mick never made me feel this way. _

_Oh God, I miss Mick. _

She breathed out a great sigh, focusing on creating a calm, collected exteria as she brought up her arm and gave three solid knocks on the black polished front door.

It was a few seconds until she heard any sign of some one inside, and that was the key being turned in the lock and then the door opening to reveal a tall dark man, who looked as if he could be a bouncer at a club. The man looked at her, waiting for her to say something.

_Did I get the wrong house? _Beth thought confused. _No, I followed the directions correctly, this has to be his place. _

"Uh, I'm looking for Josef, is he here?" Beth asked the tall, well built man.

_Who does Josef live with?_ Beth thought wondering why this guy was here.

"Your Beth Turner?" The man asked her, not anwering her question.

Beth nodded, and the man indictated for her to come in.

Beth took a few steps forward and looked around while the man closed and locked the door. Josef's house was beautifully furnished, looking very elegant and spacious. She saw a marble staircase leading up stairs and a hearty fire buring in the living room. What she didn't see was Josef.

She turned back to the man ready to ask where he was but he montioned toward a room with a closed black door on his left.

"He's in there." The man said, expecting her to leave.

Beth looked to the door suspiciously and decided to go, doubting she'd get anything more out of this guy.

She approached the door and stopped, unsure if to wait, knock or just go in. In the end she settled on lightly knocking before pushing it open a crack, peering in to see if in fact Josef was in there. And yes, he was.

She saw him seated, head down at his desk writing something. The room looked like a study, but much larger than an ordinary study. It had bookshelves lined against two of the walls, a comfortable looking couch and a small table in front of that with two more chairs surrounding that table. It looking very beautiful; matching the rest of the elegant and spacious theme the rest of the house seemed to have, the only critism she seemed to have was that the house was freezing.

"Josef?" Beth asked as she pulled her jacket around herself tighter and stepped through the door.

"Beth, yes. Come in." Josef said, not lifting his head as he motioned with his free hand to indicate she should come in.

"Ok." Beth said confused. He looked very preoccupied.

"I'm sorry, you look busy, did I come at the right time or…?" Beth asked after a few seconds, seeing Josef still enthraled with his work.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I'm just finishing off some work. I've fallen a bit behind, thanks to our friend Mick." Josef said, finally looking up and giving Beth his attention and a quick smile as a greeting.

"But anyway, back to your case. What have you got? I'm all yours." Josef said, slipping out of his business tone and into his cool, casual tone, as he gave her a playful, flirtatious smile for the last line.

Beth cleared her throat uncomfortably and took the seat in front of his chair, already pulling out papers and maps for their current case, keeping her head down in her file so he wouldn't see her blushing.

_Great, you've already let him make you feel like a ten year old girl again. Nice going. _

"I visited a friend of mine on the police force earlier today," Beth said meeting his eyes confidently, once she was sure her face had returned to its normal shade. "He told me that there have been at least three other murders in the last few weeks, all around the club Eclipse where the latest victim was found."

Josef arched one eyebrow in interest, "You think it's the same vampire who killed our latest girl?"

"Cosidering the victims were all females and had all their blood drained from their body from either their necks or wrists, I'm thinking yes." Beth said, removing the map she had been working on earlier at her office, placing it on an open page in front of Josef.

"Earlier I got all the address' of the clubs that the victims were found at and then plotted them onto this map. Now, the total at the moment is four and as you can see from this map, they're all quite close to each other." Beth said, pointing at the four crosses she had marked onto the map page. "I tried to find any homes or apartments that would be positioned in the middle where our vampire may be staying but its all in the city and the closest apartment seems pretty out of the way. So, instead, I looked up any other clubs close to these ones that would fit this general patten, hopefully leading us to the next crime scene, and I got two potentials; club Iris or club Avalanche, which I marked onto that map as well in red."

For a few moments Josef just sat their, looking at the map and taking all this new information in, he then said a few moments later "Wow, impressive. I can see why Buzzwire hired you."

"Thank you." Beth said, giving him a smile. "What did you find out?"

---

_What did I find out? I found out that walking around all day in the sun and coming home to do only work really isn't that good for a vampire, and leaves him pretty damn thirsty. _

"I think I may have a lead on our killer." Josef said.

"Wow, that's great! Who is this guy?" Beth asked exitedly.

"A friend of the victims saw her leave with a man who I think may have been the vampire. He was tall, Latin or Spanish looking, long hair and his name was Stefan." Josef said.

"That's great!" Beth said happily, her mind already whirling with ideas of how to approach this situation next.

"Yeah. It is." Josef said, "Can you excuse me for just a moment?"

"Yeah, sure." Beth said a little surprised as Josef stood and left the room.

Josef headed for his refridgerator, and poured himself a large glass of blood. He had thought about waiting until Beth was gone or chugging the whole glass down now in the kitchen so she wouldn't see, but where was the fun in that?  
Josef had always been an opportunist and he wouldn't mind seeing Beth's reaction.

He took a drink and grinned as he headed back to his office with a glass half full with blood.

---

While Beth had been writing down the latest information Josef had told her, head down, she was startled as Josef placed a glass down on the table in front of her.

She hadn't even heard him coming and found it a little unnerving but had gotten used to it around Mick.

She looked up to see Josef comfortably settled in his chair looking at her, and then her eyes turned to the cup he had placed down on the table.

Her eyes widened as she saw the dark, thick red drink and she immedietly knew it was blood. Still, it was a little confronting, she knew what he was but seeing him drink human blood in such a casual manner?

"Is that…?" Beth had to ask, feeling slightly unconfortable seeing Josef staring at her again with that same stare from their first meeting.

"O positive? Yes. Would you like some?" Josef asked her smiling.

"No thanks, I'll think I'll pass." Beth said, scribbling some more notes onto her paper so she wouldn't show him how uncomfortable this situation was for her. Mick had never drank blook around her, only that first time when she had caught him and had found out what he was, but other than that he was careful to hide that from her. But Josef… he wasn't hiding anything, and she suspected he had done this just to see her squirm.

"Anyway, I think I have an idea what to do next." Beth said, lifting her head and looking at him, trying to avoid the dark red glass on the table and keeping a passive, in control face. "I think that the only chance we have of catching this guy is to go to these clubs and sniff him out there."

"And how do you propose we 'sniff him out'?" Josef asked taking a drink, dissapointed his little game had already ended, Beth seemed to be comfortable already and not to disturbed by his drink.

"Could you detect who he was if you were in the club together?" Beth asked.

"I'm not sure, that place would be packed with different humans, different scents, and maybe even vampires. I could probably find you a vampire but I couldn't be sure it was our guy. But even if I did, he would be able to smell me too, and might suspect I was onto him and bolt." Josef said.

"Why would he think you're onto him?" Beth asked confused.

"Well I haven't got the best reputation with being friendly with vampires, especially ones who kill humans; being friends with Mick." Josef said.

"Oh, okay, then plan B. I act as bait." Beth said.

"Wait a second, bait? I don't think that's really safe." Josef said, not liking the idea of this crazed killer vamp cracking onto Beth and later trying to kill her.

"Are you worried about me?" Beth asked him sweetly with a smile spreading across her lips.

"No." Josef said instantly, "I just don't think you understand what your asking for. This vampire is a killer, and extremely dangerous and could kill you in a second."

"I get that, but we have to do something or he'll kill again. Do _you _have a better idea?" Beth asked, glad to see she had gotten the leverage in this conversation, again.

"No." Josef said, " But fine if you really want to do this and put yourself in this danger, go ahead."

"Okay." Beth said smiling, "So the plan is I'll try to find the guy by the description you gave me, and let him chat me up and as soon as he takes me outside, you follow and get him."

"'Get him'?" Josef asked skeptically.

"Yeah. You know, take care of him, kill him." Beth answered.

Josef sighed, "You know this plan has many flaws? What if I don't get there in time?"

"Well… then I'll come back as a vampire and kill you for not saving me." Beth said jokingly.

Josef raised an eyebrow in interest, truly liking the idea. Well not the killing him bit but the Beth-being-turned. He had a sudden image of what Beth would be like as a vampire, and he liked it.

"Forget I said that." Beth said sternly, not liking the expression that crossed Josef's face.

"I wouldn't dare. Why did you say that?" Josef asked, curious.

"It was a joke. But moving _on_-" Beth said.

"Is that what you really want?" Josef asked, looking at Beth, trying to see what she had meant about that joke, if there was more to it than there seemed.

"What? No, of course not!" Beth said shocked.

"Are you sure?" Josef asked, stopping Beth and making her really think.

A few seconds later, while no one had spoken, Beth's phone rang and she jumped slightly, startled, and she took out her phone.

It was Josh.

She answered and had a short conversation with him, ending with a mildly upset Beth.

Once she was done, Josef asked "Who was that?" Even thought he already knew. Vampires had excellent hearing.

"That was Josh, my boyfriend." Beth replied, putting her phone into her bag and packing up her notes and map.

"Your boyfriend. And how does he feel about you associating youself with vampires?" Josef asked smiling.

"He doesn't know." Beth said, momentarily stopping in her packing away to glare at Josef. "And he won't. He called to ask me where I was. We were supposed to have dinner tonight and I totally forgot."

"Hmm, sounds like your commited." Josef said he brought his legs up to rest on his desk.

"You have no right talking about my relationship with Josh like that, you have no idea what your talking about and it really isn't any of your business." Beth said angrily.

"So is that a yes?" Josef asked, unfased by Beths anger.

Beth paused a second and said "Of course it's a yes."

"Alright. I'm sorry, you're right. It's none of my business." Josef said smiling, even though it was obvious to any one that Beth wasn't completely sure herself.

"That's ok, but I've got to go now so do want to meet tomorrow at club Iris?" Beth asked, hanging her bag over her shoulder.

"Sure, round 9." Josef said, watching Beth leave.

As he heard the door shut, he sighed and downed the rest of his drink. He wondered what tomorrow was going to be like, if they were even going to catch a glimpse of this Stefan and if Beth really was going to be able to bait him. He believed so, she wasn't exactly hard on the eye and she ahd a certain charm about her. When he had said earlier, 'What if I don't get there in time?' he knew he was lying. Of course he would, he wouldn't let Beth get hurt. Beth interested him, more than any other human has been able to in a long time. He also found it appealing that she still managed to get cross at him and not be afraid because he was a vampire, not many people have ever challanged him but Beth was one of them, and he liked it. She was unpredictabble and wasn't ruled by her fears. He could see why Mick had spent so much time with her.

He was also reluctant to say the thought of turning her earlier was very tempting. She was fascinating and appealing as a human, but as a vampire she could be unbelievable. How had Mick spent so much time with her, and never even considered that idea? Ever played with the thought of turning her into one of us?

Of course Mick would never do such a thing, he had boundaries and morals he abided by. But Josef didn't.

---


	5. Chapter 5

Hey every1, I am soooo sry its been ages since my last update, hope u all don't think I abandoned this fic! Just been v. busy with the start of yr12, no time 4 the net, especially with every day wif school and every weekend with work. Im real sorry! I will try to update soon but I don't want to lie it may be a while! But I WILL eventually and if I ever do abandon this fic I will tell you, but I hope I wont because I have a few ideas for this :) Anyhow enjoy and really sorry for the mega long delay!  
And last of all; Happy Easter!! :D

Chapter 5:

_Where is she?_

Josef stood outside the busy night club Avalanche, apparently being stood up.

He glanced around, hoping to see Beth coming, but instead caught the eye of a rather scantily clad young girl, who couldn't have been more than 18, smiling at him flirtaciously.

At first he returned the smile with interest, but then, unfortunately, he remembered why he was here and glanced at his watch again, which read 9:16

He sighed in frustration, _why was she late? Was everything ok?_

He took out his phone, ready to call her.

He began dialing her number which he remembered from previously, when suddenly he, in a sense, _smelled _her coming.

He looked up in time to see Beth turn a corner and head towards him.

If Josef had a heart beat, it would of stopped at that moment. He could feel his canines elongate as he watched Beth walking towards him, wearing a tight little blood red dress that came up to her thighs, showing a generous amount of cleavage, with a black belt tightly buckled around her waist. She had killer black heels on, and her hair out and a decent amount of makeup on, but still letting her remain relatively modest looking.

It was such a different picture than what Beth normally wore, but Josef definitely liked it, especially the choice of colour.

Josef would have said something flirtatious or provocative, but he could see that in her expression, something was wrong.

"Sorry I'm late." Beth said, looking perturbed.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Josef asked seriously, looking at Beth intently trying to determine what was wrong. Now that she was closer, he could tell her eyes were slightly red, and he knew she had been crying. She didn't look physically hurt, which was good, but he knew something much worse could of happened.

"It's nothing." Beth said evasively.

"Beth, what's wrong?" Josef asked, more demanding than before.

"Look, it's none of your business! Can we go inside now?" Beth snapped.

Josef, surprised, let it go. For now. He wasn't one to be bossed around but he promised himself he would find out what was wrong later.

They made their way to the line, which was a solid six meters long, and stood their in silence. A few times Josef noted that Beth checked her phone from her clutch bag, but still didn't say anything.

After about 10 minutes, Josef lost his patience.

"Beth," Josef said, breaking the silence, "This is taking to long, I'm going to get inside another way. I'll try to see if our guy's there. Meet me inside by the bar when you get in."

Beth nodded and watched Josef skulk around one side of the building, looking up to see if there were any opened windows.

Beth sighed in frustration. Watching Josef and Mick do such amazing things because they were vampires made her jealous sometimes. But that was all it was, jealousy, she wasn't going to go crazy and get turned just so she could jump up walls and be super strong.

After a few minutes she glanced down the line, annoyed to see it was still probably a half an hour wait.

"About time." Beth murmured as she finally entered the club, pushing her way through a crowd of people.

She glanced around and saw a very busy dance floor with a few strobe lights flashing and headed toward the bar straight ahead.

She found an empty seat and took it, putting her clutch bag on her lap and pulling down her dress which rode up too far for her liking when ever she sat down. She didn't normally dress like this, even when she went out clubbing which wasn't that often, but what happened earlier didn't exactly leave her feeling too self conscious but more angry and reckless.

She looked around to see if she could spot Josef, but no such luck. After that she tried spotting any people by Stephan's description, but she saw too many candidates, none looking like the vampire-killer type they were hunting for.

She sighed, decided if she should wait for Josef or try to find him and Stephan. As she ordered a strong drink, she settled on waiting for him for 10 more minutes.

"Ahh, I really think I should get going." Josef said reluctantly as the young girl which had flirted with him outside pulled him towards her as she swayed to the music.

"C'mon, one more dance?" The girl, Jamie he thought it was, said sweetly rubbing against him as a new song started.

"I would really, _really, _love to stay, but I have a friend waiting for me and I'm already late." He said, knowing if he stood up Beth any longer he would be in big trouble. Especially since this wasn't a social call, but a vampire hunt.

_God I wish every hunt I went on, which isn't that often, went like this. _

He nuzzled the girls neck as she giggled, and began to disentangle himself from her.

As he turned to leave, she called out for him.

"Hey, take this." She said, giving him a folded napkin.

He took it and read her phone number scribbled on it.

He grinned at her, and left, slipping the number into his pocket. Humans, especially young naïve girls, were so ready to offer themselves to any guy, totally oblivious of the danger they were putting themselves in.

Although, that did work well for Josef.

He headed for the bar, already spotting the back of Beth as she sat on a stool.

He got closer, squeezing through the crowd, when he noticed she wasn't alone.

He paused momentarily, glancing at the guy sitting next to her. He looked roughly Beth's age, medium height and slightly built with spiky blonde hair, but a slight brown re-growth was noticeable. He had light skin with a few freckles, as if he had spent a while on the beach.

He was talking intimately with Beth who looked captivated by their conversation.

He felt momentarily relieved that Beth then wouldn't be too mad he was late but he was mostly curious about who this guy was, and slightly… not jealous but suspicious of who he was, especially if she had just met him. He knew what kind of guys preyed on beautiful women in clubs, heck, he was probably classified as one of them, and he didn't want Beth falling prey to anyone like that.

As he walked over to them, he noted Beth's empty glass by her side.

"Beth. Sorry I'm late." He said, surprising her as he walked up beside her, giving her a quick glance and turning his attention to the man seated next to her.

"Oh, that's okay." Beth said, smiling at him and following his gaze. "Oh! Sorry, Josef this is Michael. Michael, Josef."

They briefly shook hands, Michael unfazed by Josef's judging gaze as he greeted him warmly.

"So, do you two know each other?" Josef asked curtly.

"No, we just met actually." Michael said, smiling kindly at Josef and then at Beth.

"Really? You seem to be pretty friendly with each other for strangers." Josef said, giving Beth a pointed look.

"What can I say? We hit it off pretty well. Beth's very interesting and it turns out we're both journalists so we had a lot to talk about." Michael said placing his hand on Beth's which rested on the table in a friendly manner.

Josef was unnerved as Beth didn't move away but smiled at him warmly.

"Well that's great but me and Beth better go, we're kind of on a job so…" Josef said, putting his hand on Beth's shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

"Oh, right. I better get going Michael. But it was really great meeting you." Beth said standing.

"Yeah it was." Michael said, "I'll give you a call sometime yeah?" He asked.

"Yeah, definitely." Beth said, as Michael gave her a light kiss on the cheek. Josef was to stunned to talk, he just watched Michael leave and took his seat facing Beth. This was very unlike Beth.

"What? You're looking at me all funny." Beth said, as she signaled for another drink of vodka tonic from the bartender.

"Have you had too many to drink already?" Josef asked her as she took a sip of her second drink.

"What? No!" Beth exclaimed, putting down her drink self-consciously.

"So please don't tell me you just gave your number to a complete stranger and told him to call you." Josef said, completely confused. This wasn't Beth, at least not the one he was used to dealing with.

"He isn't a complete stranger!" Beth exclaimed, but after a look from Josef she said, "Yeah, ok maybe he is but, well- he's really nice and I know he's not one of those weird freaks hanging out at clubs stalking women and we really did hit it off- oh whatever! I don't have to explain myself to you! You were late and don't think I didn't see you all over that 17 year old on the dance floor before!"

"You saw that did you?" Josef asked slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah! So don't get on your high horse about me making new friends while your making out with a 17 year old girl who's name you probably don't even know!" Beth said heatedly.

"Hey! I know her name! It was… Jess. I think." Josef said uncertainly. "It started with a J!"

Beth rolled her eyes, taking anther sip of her drink.

"Anyway, that aside, aren't we here on 'work'?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, right." Josef said, "While I was checking out the club I didn't spot him. I saw a few guys who looked like our Stephan but some of them didn't check out to be vampires, and others I couldn't get close enough to tell. There was this one guy, looked like him. He was talking up two blondes, could be our vamp. I think I should check it out."

"And let on that he's being followed by us? I don't think so. I'll do it." Beth said, jumping up off her chair energetically. He grinned as she lost her balance slightly, he could tell she was tipsy.

"Whoa! You sure?" Josef asked, gripping her arm as she steadied herself.

"Yeah! I am supposed to be the bait aren't I? Point me in the right direction." Beth said excitedly, pulling down her dress and flipping her hair back.

"Okay, he's that one, dancing with that blonde. Wearing the black shirt and pants." He said, pointing subtly to the man that fitted Stephan's description.

"Right. So.. what do I do?" Beth asked.

Josef smiled slightly, amused, "Flirt with him. Do what you can and try to get a feel if you think he's a vampire, maybe even get him to ask you to go out back or something. But if he does ask you, don't go with him. Come get me."

"And you'll what? You can't kill him in a crowd because he asked me to go out back. If he asks, I'll make sure your watching and I'll go, and you'll follow and get him there if he tries anything." Beth said firmly.

Josef sighed and agreed, and then watched Beth make her way through the dance floor toward the possible suspect. He saw the guy look her up and down appreciatively as he began to dance with her, putting his arms around her. He felt a flash of irritation and… protectiveness?

_God I hope not. _

Beth had changed him more than he'd like. He wasn't sure why. But he wasn't sure he liked it. But did he like _her? _It seemed like it. Which was strange, he didn't often feel for humans. Not in a long time, and last time that certainly didn't work out. Especially seeing Beth act so reckless and wild, it was very appealing to him, seeing this different side of her. He hoped it was just a crush, and soon he'd come back to his senses.

Although he couldn't help himself feel jealous and envious as he watched Beth and that other man gyrate on the dance floor.


End file.
